Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman started College Hunks (stylized as HUNKS) Hauling Junk & Moving with a borrowed van and a simple idea: People needed help getting rid of their unwanted stuff, and two college students were willing to do the heavy lifting.
More than two decades later, their orange-and-green trucks are a familiar sight throughout Tampa Bay, and the company they started has grown into a national franchise business whose locations generate nearly $300 million in annual sales.
Now, the founders are handing over the day-to-day work of running it.
College HUNKS named Brad Cowan its new CEO this week. Friedman said the decision comes as the Tampa-based company looks to grow beyond what he and Soliman have built, with an eventual goal of $1 billion in annual sales across its locations.
“I think Omar and I as founders, I think we’re great visionaries,” Friedman said Thursday. “I don’t know that we’re necessarily great managers of process and execution, especially given the size and scope of where the business is today.”
The company’s beginnings were considerably simpler.
Friedman and Soliman started hauling furniture and other unwanted belongings around the Washington, D.C., area in 2003. What began as a summer job became a full-time business in 2005. Two years later, they began selling franchises, allowing other entrepreneurs to open College HUNKS operations in their own communities.
They moved the headquarters to Tampa in 2008, drawn by what Friedman described as a welcoming place for young business owners.
The company now handles household moves, junk removal, packing and other jobs that require a truck and people willing to carry heavy things. Its franchises serve St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tampa, Brandon, Riverview and other communities throughout the region.
Some of those businesses are run by people who started out doing the work themselves. In 2016, former Tampa crew members Brandan Underwood and Acey Ignacio became franchise owners serving Pinellas County.
The company has since grown to nearly 200 franchisees, according to Friedman, and operates in the United States and Canada.
But running a business of that size is a different challenge from starting one.
Friedman said the founders began considering outside leadership after recognizing that they could benefit from someone who had already helped manage a much larger company.
Cowan previously worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and at Paul Davis Restoration, a national business that repairs homes and commercial buildings damaged by fires, floods and other disasters.
Friedman said Cowan’s experience appealed to them because both moving and restoration involve crews traveling to different jobs, dealing with unpredictable problems and serving customers who often need help during stressful circumstances.
“We felt like somebody who’s seen what $2 billion looks like, somebody [who] understands this complex service model … could be a valuable addition,” Friedman said.
The hiring also comes after several challenging years for the moving industry.
With mortgage rates remaining high and fewer people buying and selling homes, College HUNKS has had a harder time finding customers. Friedman said the company has also spent more money attracting business.
Its total sales across the franchise network fell approximately 4%, or $10 million, between 2024 and 2025, Friedman confirmed in a follow-up message.
The company has also pulled back on opening new franchises. According to its 2026 franchise disclosure document, it had 159 franchised outlets at the end of 2025, down from 202 at the end of 2023.
Friedman said the company deliberately slowed expansion while newer franchise owners struggled with a difficult housing market. Some larger operators absorbed smaller neighboring franchises, allowing the company to concentrate on improving existing locations rather than continuing to open new ones.
“We have now, yes, less locations but healthier locations,” he said.
Friedman acknowledged that the business has leveled off at around $300 million in annual sales. He believes Cowan can help get it growing faster again.
The founders have set their sights on $1 billion, a figure Friedman said could be reached by expanding to about 300 locations and increasing the average amount each brings in.
They are also looking at new sources of work, including longer-distance moves, military relocations and contracts with large companies that need moving and hauling services in multiple cities.
Friedman said three years is the company’s ambitious target for reaching that goal. He acknowledged that the timeline is meant to push the business to find better ways of working, not serve as a promise.
College HUNKS is also putting greater emphasis on its Tampa headquarters. Friedman said the company returned to a hybrid office schedule this year and is prioritizing local candidates, or those willing to relocate, when filling management positions. Cowan has purchased a home in Tampa for use during the workweek.
As for the founders, Friedman and Soliman will remain involved as co-chairmen of the company’s board. They’ll help guide its plans, recruit leaders and represent the business, but will leave more of the daily decisions to Cowan and his team.
Friedman acknowledged that giving up some control of something he spent 23 years building will take adjustment. He described it as a relief, but also a matter of trusting other people to do work he and Soliman once handled themselves.
He said the change has brought back some of the excitement they felt when they first started the company.
“I think there’s a tendency sometimes to either get bored or complacent or, I don’t know, just burnt out even,” Friedman said. “And now I feel like we’re as energetic as ever because of what we see as possible for this brand to achieve.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
